A woman who is obvious poor is selling tomatoes.
Not only did she grow the tomatoes, but she brought to them to the market to sell for a profit.
She says the price that will make the sale more profitable for her. We meet this woman, and begin arguing. In fact, we will think the woman is a thief for trying to sell at a profit. If we win the argument she will sell at a loss, break even or a minimal profit. Don't forget, not only is her stall not free, but time is also an expense because it's not as if she has another occupation.

I was debating with a friend of mine who said that there is no certification for electricians in Nigeria. I said there is, but the average Nigerian will by-pass the certified person, go to the uncertified person, argue price, then get angry when the work is inferior.
Someone will spend their time learning to be an electrician (with or without a certification).
We will go to that person. They will tell us the money necessary to make a profit. We will start arguing.
They will then add that price in parts, and supplement the loss by using inferior parts. We call the person a thief.

In this small example, how many problems did we create for ourselves? When we don't go to the certified person, we are gambling with quality,, but it's ok as long as we can cheat on price. When we argue on rates, we inflate the quoted cost of materials. The electrician goes home barely making a profit and we stay home with shabby work.

So what am I trying to say? We like to cheat as a people. Often we think this cheating or our obsession with taking advantage of people will benefit us or is a sign of our wisdom, but it's actually stupidity that hurts everyone. If an electrician says it will cost X to fix a TV because they need to by part A and part B. We argue. The person then takes the price away from the general quote and adds it to the quote for parts. When the person goes to buy parts they buy the worst possible parts because otherwise they won't make a profit. You have taken away the money necessary to make a profit and work comfortably. The person gets the parts inferior parts for the sake of profit then they do the work and go home. What happens after that point is your business. It stops working in less than a month and we start complaining about 'Nigeria'.

We won't got to the accredited, certified tax paying business. We go to the one that looks like we can cheat them or pay them less. The one without verifiable training (not saying they're not trained, there's just no way for you to know). The person that got their certification has effectively wasted their time trying to provide a superior level of quality. His failure encourages generations after him not to go to school and follow his route. Informal education continues, which is not a bad thing, but is a gamble as far as quality.


What happens in the end? The woman selling tomatoes is poor forever despite having business everyday. The electrician is poor forever despite having business everyday. And every tomato you eat and TV you watch is rubbish that will spoil before it's time, causing you to have to buy another and spend the same money you cheated others out of. Tomorrow you will say there's no jobs because of 'government' but refuse to pay businesses what it takes to keep staff. You will say that government needs to 'encourage investment' but you will go to the informal sector when the investment comes because it's easier to cheat and haggle people in the informal sector. If you add all of this up, it's easy to see where Nigeria is at and why.

Average Nigerians are opportunists

The small change you can make is paying people what they ask. Price is not the only aspect of business. If someone is selling quality tomatoes, pay them the price they ask. If someone does a quality job fixing your television, pay them well. I'm in the US and when people do a good job you even tip them (add extra money). Simply because they know that when they're dealing with you, there is a reward for a job well done, and they will strive to provide you the best possible service you can image. People will hesitate to cheat someone that doesn't cheat them.

But when you complain that a person has sold you an inferior TV, ask yourself, who started the cheating process first? Do you want someone to tell you a TV for the same price the acquired the TV? If you own a business, will you sell your highest quality goods to a person that believe you making a profit is you being a thief?

Many of us buy the same things from the same people everyday. Why not cultivate that relationship to benefit both of sides? If someone is selling you a good or a service the price they give is the price they give. If you can't afford it, go to another person, but don't beat their price down and keep them poor because you don't want to let go of an extra 20 or 100 naira.

helinues:
Average Nigerians are opportunists

And they will say it's bad government' when really, there's no reason for someone to be selling food everyday with customers every hour and go home poor. Many of these women believe (out of lack of exposure) that the rates they are forced to sell at are the only rates. They're just happy to turn the tomato into money even if it's at a loss. The water the use to water that plant isn't free. The stall isn't free. The light isn't free. When you add all of it up and start fighting old women over 10-20 Naira in the name of haggling, you will see that you're actually worst than the government you're complaining about.

If you don't have the money leave. If you have the money and want the product or service pay. If I were a governor, the first thing I would ban in haggling. We are keeping each other poor and creating a wasteland of inferior goods and services in the name of pricing.

OruExpress:


And they will say it's bad government' when really, there's no reason for someone to be selling food everyday with customers every hour and go home poor. Many of these women believe (out of lack of exposure) that the rates they are forced to sell at are the only rates. They're just happy to turn the tomato into money even if it's at a loss. The water the use to water that plant isn't free. The stall isn't free. The light isn't free. When you add all of it up and start fighting old women over 10-20 Naira in the name of haggling, you will see that you're actually worst than the government you're complaining about.

If you don't have the money leave. If you have the money and want the product or service pay. If I were a governor, the first thing I would ban in haggling. We are keeping each other poor and creating a wasteland of inferior goods and services in the name of pricing.

We still have a long way to go as a country..

We all shifted our blames on Politicians meanwhile, we have forgotten that it is the community that is producing our set of politicians, not just the politicians but other professions who are performing badly even more than the politicians...

E.g ASUU that are not ready to resume their work as a lecturer

because it is has become Normal